15 iOS To-Do Apps that Sync Over the Air

In this day and age, if a productivity app is not syncing to the cloud enabling you to continue to from anywhere, it has no real grounds to be associated with the concept of productivity at all.

The day of the Moleskine notebook has long gone and we have started to carry a sleek smartphone that replaces a dozen gadgets. As soon as App Stores and marketplaces opened for public consumption, hundreds (possibly thousands) of task management apps have flooded the market.

Sure, a lot of them well designed, full of bells and whistles available at throw away prices. But most of them lock you and your tasks within the tiny realm of the smartphone. So when the battery dies or the smartphone is misplaced, you become a sitting duck. Now, that’s nowhere near being productive and that too because of no fault of yours. Well, that’s only partially true since it’s you who unwisely chose a Todo app without cloud sync.

As a part of our ongoing series of Productivity posts, we have decided to put together a list of iOS apps that sync back to a server and allow access to your tasks from anywhere.

This one I use personally and has enhanced my productivity by atleast 30% (Before that I was maybe getting only 10% done, but that’s not the story here). Except for keeping track of things to be done, day after day, the app does not do much. There are absolutely no frills in the interface and it is strikingly similar to the parent Web app. It costs $2.99 and is worth every penny.

ToDo supports sync with multiple services including its homegrown Todo Online, a new cloud sync service for tasks. Besides that you can sync to Toodledo and even access your tasks on your desktop in iCal or Outlook. Comes with a $4.99 price tag.

I will always remember RTM as the app that started the GTD revolution on the web. There are tonnes of better looking and feature-rich apps out there, but RTM is still going strong. To get the free mobile app, you will have to sign up for the RTM Pro account.

2Do is an award winning task management app that gets better with every update. The gorgeous design of the app made me keep track of its progress even before I got an iPhone. True cloud sync came as promised and has a whole bunch of features from multiple calendars to location based reminders. A steep $6.99 is absolutely justified and it syncs with ToodleDo.

Pocket Informant is a popular task management and calendering app. While this might not be the ideal choice for everyone, businessmen seem to love the app so much its always on the bestseller list. For $4.99, the app syncs with Google Calender and Toodledo.

Producteev is a task management app for individuals and teams. The app allows you to add tasks via IM and email making it a breeze to use. The mobile app is a free download and it syncs to the Producteev web app.

OmniFocus is a very well known task management app for the Mac and the developers, Omni Group, have a lot of popular Mac apps in their kitty. OmniFocus for iPhone is probably the costliest Todo app (costs $19.99) in the app store and it syncs to the Mac version using Bonjour on a local WiFi network, or through the cloud using MobileMe or any standard WebDAV server.

Flow on the web has a gorgeous interface and a boatload of features. This task management app has got so many features, it is only a few notches away from becoming a project management app. Ideal for teams and individuals alike. The mobile app is free and syncs with the Flow web app.

I was of the impression that TeuxDeux is the simplest Todo app of them all. TaskPaper made me change my mind. Type your lists into TaskPaper and each line is formatted into a project, task or note. The iOS app costs $9.99 and syncs with Simpletext.ws

My shot at task management and productivity began with Things. It has a ton of features yet it does not feel too complicated to use. And the gorgeous interface is simply the best. I had to ditch it few months ago, for the lack of true cloud sync. It has always had wireless syncing capability with the Things for Mac app and they have (finally) entered the testing phase of the much expected cloud sync feature.

Wunderlist is getting more famous by the day. It has got a lot of geek and street cred, thanks to their streamlined flow combined with the splendid web and desktop apps. All versions of the app are free.

Nobody rocks green better than Zenbe. I was a huge fan of Zenbe mail when it launched. Now the same awesomeness lives through Zenbe lists. The app costs $4.99 in the app store and has a gorgeous iPad app too.